In 2012 and 2013, the Institute for Landscape Planning and Ecology organized two summerschools in connection with the Lima Water research project (LiWa) in an informal area located in the north of Metropolitan Lima, Perú. This specific area served as a demonstration site for the development and implementation of strategies and measures of water-sensitive urban development in an arid context.

The task of the two summer schools was to develop and implement low-cost, productive water-sensitive urban design solutions that are both functional and beautiful and contribute to a sustainable urban environment. Such solutions should limit the wasteful consumption of potable water and show new approaches to harvesting or saving water, purifying water, reusing nutrients for fertilization or food production, and using local or recycled materials.

This was done by strategic temporary interventions during the first summer school and semi-permanent installations during the second summer school in the form of design prototypes that would be tested for their viability with both experts and the community. The students were asked not to develop a master plan for the whole site, but rather to propose a minimal strategic intervention that could initiate a chain reaction of improvements. The final proposal had to possess the highest potential to be replicated in other open spaces in the future. Based on the results and experiences from the two summerschools, the Liwa-research team designed and implemented a new park which was opened and handed over to the community in 2014.

The methodology for the summer school considered two main aspects. First, the students from different nationalities and disciplines (architecture, landscape architecture, spatial planning, agricultural engineering, sanitary engineering, wastewater sanitation and social sciences) had to use their different individual competences and apply their different methods and tools; but all had to contribute to a joint project that integrated individual contributions. Second, the task of the workshop covered the whole process, from analyses to project implementation and a handing over to the community; as such, it was a quite complex task to be fulfilled within a short time.